New England Bound

Squanto was a Patuxet man who lived in the early 17th century in the region that is now New England. Warren refers to Squanto’s kidnapping by English captain Thomas Hunt as one of the first instances of capture and enslavement in colonial New England. In 1614 Captain Hunt was exploring the east coast of North America and lured Squanto, along with about 24 other Indigenous men, onto his ship under the pretense of trading with them and then locked them on board. Hunt sailed to Spain, where he sold his captives into slavery. However, Squanto and a few other men were taken by Spanish priests, who wanted to convert them. Somehow Squanto ended up in England and became a servant to John Slaney, treasurer of the Newfoundland Company. Eventually Squanto managed to return to North America and even found his home village again, but sadly its people had been decimated by the smallpox brought by the Europeans.

Incredibly, when the first Pilgrims endured their first winter at Plymouth Colony in 1620-1621, Squanto approached them and showed them where to find food. Warren infers that Squanto had learned English while in the service of John Slaney, and he went on to act as a guide and translator for these early Pilgrims. Squanto’s life story is significant to Warren’s work as it shows the interconnected nature of the Atlantic world, The Cultural Immersion of Enslaved People, and the ever-present threat of enslavement for Indigenous people in New England. She writes,

Already, then, before the Pilgrims had endured their first winter in the Plymouth colony, the interlocked gears of colonization and enslavement had forced a Patuxet Indian man across the Atlantic and back, into chattel slavery and out, through two empires’ motherlands, and, finally, perhaps wiser and certainly worldlier, back to a village that was no longer home because no one was there (13).

John Whan was an enslaved African man who lived in mid-17th century New Amsterdam and New England. Whan was enslaved by Theophilus Eaton, the Governor of the New Haven Colony. Eaton freed Whan and his wife in their elderly years and gifted them some land and a small house. Warren refers to Whan’s story to demonstrate the emotional and physical challenges that elderly enslaved people faced. As a widower at the end of his life, Whan wanted to sell his land and house and return to New Amsterdam to be among the Black community, where he felt more supported. This unusual story of enslavement and freedom also adds variety and nuance to Warren’s examination of the individual experiences of enslaved people. 

Hagar was an enslaved African woman who lived in late 17th-century Massachusetts. Hagar was originally from Angola and was sold into slavery in New England, where she was owned by colonist John Manning. In New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America Warren explains that Hagar was accused of the crime of fornication when it was discovered that she was pregnant. In her testimony Hagar explained that she had been captured in Angola and taken from her husband and young son. Warren refers to Hagar’s court case as an example of how the transatlantic slave trade ripped African families apart.

Samuel Maverick was a prominent English colonist in the early 17th century. Among the first English people to colonize New England, Maverick settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He owned Noddle’s Island, which was a 660 acre island in Boston’s harbor which had abundant trees for firewood. By 1638 Maverick also owned three enslaved African people and, as recorded by his houseguest John Josselyn, encouraged a male enslaved person to rape his female enslaved person in an attempt to breed them. Warren refers to Maverick to demonstrate how English colonists began enslaving African people very soon after establishing their colonies. Maverick’s story also demonstrates how colonists such as Maverick already intended to establish a system of permanent chattel slavery, in which the children of enslaved people were also enslaved themselves.

John Eliot was an English colonist best known for his Christian missionary work in Indigenous communities in New England. Eliot was born in 1604 and graduated from Cambridge University. At some point he converted to Puritanism and moved to New England where he preached to local Indigenous people and established “praying towns” for converts to live together. Eliot learned the Massachusetts language and lived among the Massachusetts people. He advocated for Indigenous Christians’ rights to live close to English colonists and access land for crops and residences.

Warren’s explanation of Eliot’s perspective on colonization and his dedicated missionary activity help illustrate the differing views colonists held on the purpose of colonization and Indigenous people in general. While Eliot believed that colonists should convert Indigenous people to Christianity and live cooperatively among them, he found himself in the minority as most colonists regarded Indigenous people with hatred and suspicion, even if they had converted.

Cotton Mather was a prominent English colonist, Puritan clergyman, and writer who lived in late 17th-century to early 18th-century Boston. Mather is well known for his role in prosecuting the Salem witch trials, which he passionately defended. An enslaver himself, Mather argued that slavery was an acceptable, Christian practice and a natural part of society’s inherent hierarchy, thus speaking to the theme of Religiosity and Morality in Colonist Perspectives on Slavery. He believed that slavery was a moral practice because it provided colonists with the opportunity to convert African and Indigenous people to Christianity. In 1693 Mather penned “Rules for the Society of Negroes” in which he advocated for weekly religious instruction for enslaved people, somewhat similar to John Eliot’s concept of “praying towns.” Warren includes Mather in her work due to his extremely influential role as an intellectual and religious leader in New England and argues that his views on slavery were typical of the colonist perspective at this time.

Samuel Sewall was born in England and moved to New England in 1661, at the age of nine. He had a successful career as a merchant and served as a justice in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Court. Sewall was a judge during the Salem witch trials, though he came to regret his involvement and even apologized for his role in those cases. Warren refers to Sewall as New England’s first real abolitionist, since his pamphlet, “The Selling of Joseph,” was the region’s first explicitly anti-slavery literature. In this work Sewall made religious arguments against enslavement, emphasizing that no human should be commodified and that no one could put a price on the value of freedom. Sewall quoted scripture that condemned slavery and urged readers to see enslaved people as fellow humans, “sons of Adam” and “coheirs” to the world and liberty (258). Warren’s discussion of Sewall emphasizes the radical nature of his views, and she notes that few of his fellow colonists were persuaded to agree with him.